Nuclear fusion reactor

Abstract

A nuclear fusion reactor has a toroidal, electrically conductive shell and an air-core current transformer coil with a single turn disposed on the outer peripheral side of the shell, a plurality of port holes provided in the shell to be radially aligned with those in the coil respectively, the shell and the coil being coated with electrically insulating layers of the FBC type except for each of the port holes and its adjacent portion which are electrically insulated by one pair of electrically insulating insertions having cylindrical sections fitted into the port hole from both ends to be superposed on each other and flange sections radially extending from the opposite ends of the superposed cylindrical sections and disposed on the opposite surface portions of the shell or the coil adjacent to the port hole, and connected to the mating electrically insulating layer portions, the flange sections located on the shell and the coil to oppose to each other having terminations spaced from each other by a predetermined distance in the radial direction of the associated aligned port holes.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A nuclear fusion reactor, comprising: an evacuated container for containing a plasma, having a plurality of ports extending radially outwardly therefrom for observing the plasma, a toroidal shell of an electrically conductive metallic material surrounding said container, a plurality of first port holes being formed in said shell, said shell being coated with a first electrically insulating layer formed on the surface thereof in accordance with a fluidized bed dip coating process except for the first port holes and the portions of said shell adjacent to said port holes,   an air-core current transformer coil in the form of a toroid disposed on the outer peripheral side of the toroidal shell to form an annular toroidal gap therebetween, a plurality of second port holes identical to and radially aligned with the first port holes being formed in said coil, said coil being coated with a second electrically insulating layer formed on the surface thereof in accordance with the fluidized bed dip coating process except for the second port holes and the portions of said coil adjacent to said second port holes, said ports extending through each aligned first port hole and second port hole, and   a plurality of pairs of electrically insulating insertions formed of an electrically insulating material, insulating respective associated ones of the first and second port holes and said portions of said shell and said coil respectively adjacent to said first port holes and said second port holes, each of said pairs of electrically insertions including a first insertion including a first cylindrical section snugly fitted into an associated one of the first and second port holes from one end thereof, and a first flange section radially extending from an end of said first cylindrical section at said one end of said associated one of said first and second port holes on said portions of the shell and the coil adjacent to the first and second port holes, and   a second insertion including a second cylindrical section snugly fitted into said first cylindrical section from the other end of said associated one of the first and second port holes, and a second flange section radially extending from an end of the second cylindrical section at said other end of said associated one of said first and second port holes on said portions of the shell or the cirrent transformer coil adjacent to said first and second port holes,     said first and second flange sections being connected to mating portions of the electrically insulating layer of the fluidized bed dip coating type adjacent thereto in abutting relation thereto, said portions of said shell adjacent said fist holes and said portions of said coil adjacent said second holes, and the flange portions thereon, having such surface dimensions that the boundaries between ones of the flange sections disposed on opposing ones of the surfaces portions of the shell and the coil adjacent to the associated aligned port holes and the respective mating portions of the electrically insulating layers are radially spaced away from each other by a predetermined distance.   
     
     
       2. A nuclear fusion reactor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shell and the air-core current transformer coil are connected together into a unitary structure by filling the annular toroidal gap therebetween with an epoxy resin. 
     
     
       3. A nuclear fusion reactor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrically insulating insertion is formed of a fiber reinforced plastic. 
     
     
       4. A nuclear fusion reactor as in claim 1, wherein said first insulating layer and the flanges of said first insertions have the same thickness, and said second insulating layer and the flanges of said second insertions have the same thickness.